The Least Courtesy
by deets1
Summary: Reporters just never seem to take a hint. Someone's got to set them straight. Oneshot.


**Hey all, this is just something I thought of. Felt like putting it down. Tell me how it reads, hey? I don't write very often.**

Danny ducked in midair as green fire rushed over his head. "Once. Just once I'd like to take a walk without being assaulted. Is that too much to ask?"

He looked up in time to see a massive tail slam him into the ground, cracking the asphalt. Danny sat up groaning and rubbed his head. "I guess it is- Yikes!"

He lunged to the side to avoid another tongue of flame that licked the ground right where he had been milliseconds ago.

"Why am I still here…" Danny muttered as he quickly leapt into the air and rushed to face Aragon, launched a barrage of ecto-blasts at at him along the way. "Why. Don't. You. Stay. Down. This. Time!"

The black and purple dragon roared a laugh and opened his maw, revealing a building flame.

"Fine. We'll do this your way." Danny opened his mouth, and met the oncoming flame with a stream of ice. Phantom and dragon held fast, battling to see which side would win, until finally the phantom sighed. _'This isn't the time to fool around Fenton.'_ He raised both his hands and let two more flurries stream toward Aragon, covering him in an icy prison. Danny whipped out the Fenton Thermos and sucked Aragon in before the dragon could wiggle himself free.

The ghost boy went limp as all the tension flowed out of his body and he turned to fly home and get some _sleep,_ homework be damned.

Of course, right then his ghost sense went off. He gasped out a cold fog and whirled around, ecto-blast ready to fire whe-

"Lord Phantom! I am so sorry I did not get here in time! I just realized that my troublemaking brother decided to invade your haunt. I apologize." Dora, the ruler of the Medieval Castle lair in the zone, and Aragon's sister, bowed at the waist.

"It's fine, Dora." Danny chuckled, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. "It was no trouble at all. I'm willing to help any time."

Danny tossed the Fenton thermos to Dora, who looked down at it, confused. "You can take him back in that to make life easier. I'll come and get it from your castle later."

In all honesty, Danny had half a mind to just let her keep it, but Dan was inside his own thermos. Never mind the fact that the thermos was still his only way of capturing rogue ghosts. It would be too irresponsible to leave the thermos in the Zone just for laziness right….? Yeah. Yeah it would.

"Many thanks again, Lord Phantom." Dora smiled.

"Aw, please, call me Da-"

*Flash!*

Danny hung his head and groaned. He and Dora had used up their one and a half minute window to escape the paparazzi. The street filled with an unnecessarily large amount of reporters who immediately mobbed the two ghosts. At times like these, Danny was all to thankful for ghost flight.

The evening was lit up with countless camera flashes.

"Mr. Phantom! Mr. Phantom! Months after the incident with the disasteroid, you still have yet to answer one question!" Danny's eye gave what he hoped was an unnoticeable twitch. Dora, curious cocked her head to the side as she looked on, only to abruptly stiffen at the next question.

"Mr. Fenton! How did you die?"

"What was it like?"

"Did it hurt? What could take out a fourteen year old kid?"

The halfa smiled widely, noticing Dora's incredibly stiff posture and tightened eyes. It was time to go.

"Aw, you guys don't want to know that story." The teen cemented his smile in place as he started to take Dora's elbow and float away.

Dora didn't budge. She glanced at Danny and spoke in tones too low for the microphones:

"Lord Phantom, please tell me the rest of the town is more intelligent than these cretins. Did you not see fit to educate them?" Danny cringed and tried to brush it off with some non-convincing chuckles.

"You know I never really found it that imp-"

A spotlight shone down on both ghosts and a helicopter came into view. A solitary reporter yelled at them via megaphone: "Phantom! We're willing to give you an exclusive interview on our show if you come out with what did you in!"

Danny sighed and put a hand to his face. He really didn't need to see what would come next. He let go of Dora's elbow when he felt her posture become unbelievably tight and then suddenly relax. Danny let his other hand hang at his side as he peeked through his fingers gingerly. _'Here we go.'_

Dora turned back to the reporters with a smile that would have been perfectly natural, were it not for her suddenly dragon-esque eyes. Every reporter took gulped and took a synchronized step back. However, they still steeled themselves. They were getting this story.

"Good evening, sirs and madams. I could not help but notice this interesting conversation topic. Allow me to enlighten you." The reporters inched forward a little more, no less scared, but emboldened by Phantom's presence (they studiously ignored his wary expression), and the possibility of _answers(!)_.

"Let us talk about death." Dora gave a sugar-sweet smile. "Deaths that are not due to old age are bound to be painful, yes?" Of course, that was common sense. All the reporters nodded, slightly confused.

"Now imagine you go through pain that was enough to kill a man, and the next day I pester you, reminding you of that excruciatingly painful experience again, and again, and **again.** You would not appreciate it at all, would you?" The reporters shook their heads, a bit more apprehensive, and Dora mimicked them with an exaggerated pout. "No, of course not."

Dora's expression hardened. Maybe she didn't have ice powers, but the reporters still felt the chill. "Never," Dora said, engraving the word in the reporters' brains, "ask a ghost how they died. It is the height of rudeness. Are we clear?" Dora's voice deepened and became more gravely on the last question. Even though she was staring down the reporters, Danny gulped and floated back a pace. You know. Just in case. Dora went on:

"Now that we have had this nice chat, I really must be going. Enjoy the rest of your day!" Her eyes reverted to their normal red irises, and she smiled. The mob of people relaxed, until she disappeared to be replaced with her dragon a second later. Before anyone could panic she grabbed Danny and flew away, her powerful wingbeats destabilizing the annoying helicopter.

The reporters looked at each other and quickly dispersed. Maybe they'd give Phantom a break, just for a couple days.

 **I would really appreciate a comment, good bad or ugly. My heart can take it.**

 **Deets**

 **Edited 12/27/15. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a Happy New Year!**

 **Edited 7/8/17. Have a good summer y'all!**


End file.
